The Big School At Sherborne School. Lobby To The Big School At Sherborne School

The Big School at Sherborne School, built in 1879 and the adjacent lobby added between 1883 and 1884, were designed by R.H. Carpenter and Benjamin Ingelow. The Big School is a single-story range with a stone slate roof and ashlar facing, situated to the east of the Quadrangle. It features five window bays, although the southern bay is partially obscured by the Second War Memorial. Tall, transomed and mullioned windows rise into the roof space, topped with gables, and are set above a high base. A stringcourse runs beneath the window sills. A modern external staircase rises to the second window from the north end, and a square-headed doorway is positioned between the third and fourth bays from the north. The Abbey Road facade has four windows mirroring the eastern design.

The lobby is a corner block in the northwest angle of the quadrangle, also with a stone slate roof and ashlar facing. The north side has a single-story, attic section lower than the Big School, with a cupola window topped by a pedimented gable. A doorway with a wide, pointed arch is below. The south side features two bays, also single-story with an attic, and taller than the northern frontage, with three-light, two-tier transomed and mullioned windows. Deep dripmoulds act as stringcourses on the lower windows, while the upper windows are set into the roof space with gables over. A molded eaves cornice tops the structure. The outer walls of the angle facing Abbey Road have three windows and two chimney breasts on the north side. The windows are two-light, two-tier, with cusped heads above and dripmoulds below, mirroring the detailing of the south-facing wall. Shallow, projecting octagonal chimney shafts flank the end windows. A four-light, two-tier window is centrally positioned, with cusped heads above. A two-centred doorway sits below. The west-facing wall features a four-light, two-tier window with a dripmould, and two three-light, two-tier windows with deep dripmoulds and a central stone mullion with two offsets. A three-centred doorway is recessed to the south. The buildings are located near the Abbey Church of St Mary and are part of a group of school buildings forming a cohesive setting.